Foreign Minister Yair Lapid arrived in Bahrain on Thursday, the first high-level visit to the small Gulf state by a senior Israeli official since the signing last year of a landmark agreement to establish diplomatic ties.
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Lapid, who landed at Bahrain's international airport in an Israir plane with an olive branch painted on its nose, will inaugurate Israel's embassy in Manama and hold talks with his Bahraini counterpart, Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani.
It was the first official visit by an Israeli cabinet member.
Joining Lapid on the one-day visit is Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz and Deputy Director-General for Middle Eastern Affairs and the Peace Process Oded Joseph.
"Foreign Minister Lapid's visit to Bahrain is of utmost diplomatic and regional importance," Ushpiz told Israel Hayom. "The Israeli Embassy in Manama is the fourth Israeli mission we will have inaugurated in recent months. Every such mission is a bridge for diplomatic and economic activity on behalf of the citizens of Israel. Regional stability, economic prosperity and technological advancement are the tidings that this partnership with Bahrain, together with the Emirates and Morocco, bring to the entire region."
"The foreign minister is spearheading a policy of connectivity, the goal of which is to expand the spheres of normalization and peace in the Middle East. This policy has ramifications that extend beyond the region," said Ushpiz.
Upon landing, Lapid tweeted: "We landed in Bahrain. Proud to represent Israel on the first and historic official visit to the Kingdom. Thanks for the warm welcome."
FM @yairlapid: "We landed in Bahrain. Proud to represent Israel on the first and historic official visit to the Kingdom. Thanks for the warm welcome"
Shlomi Amsalem / GPO pic.twitter.com/8k93WITkeu
— Israel Foreign Ministry (@IsraelMFA) September 30, 2021
Bahrain carrier Gulf Air immediately launched its first direct flight between Manama and Tel Aviv.
The Israeli diplomatic delegation was to meet with its Bahraini counterparts and sign five memorandums of understanding to further cement bilateral ties, including economic deals and cooperation between hospitals and water companies.
"The main areas in which Bahrain is looking for cooperation have to do with the economy and technology, and a few of the MOUs that will be signed (on Thursday) will be about that," a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, without elaborating.
He said 12 memorandums of understanding have been signed so far between the two countries, among them deals relating to transportation, agriculture, communication and finance.
The two countries had long enjoyed clandestine security ties over a shared distrust of regional rival Iran, but only last year took the relationship public.
"We see Bahrain as an important partner, both in the bilateral level but also as a bridge to cooperation with other countries in the region," said Lior Haiat, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry.
Israel established formal diplomatic relations with four Arab states last year as part of the US-brokered "Abraham Accords." Lapid has already visited the United Arab Emirates and Morocco and opened Israel's diplomatic offices there since he became foreign minister in June.
Bahrain's first ambassador to Israel arrived earlier this month and presented his credentials to President Isaac Herzog on the anniversary of the signing of the accords.
The deals to establish relations with Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco and the UAE were the first peace accords between Israel and Arab states in decades, after peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1995.
The Israeli delegation arrived earlier this week and joined Bahrain's tiny Jewish community in marking the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. Haiat said it was the first time in over 75 years that the community could mark the holiday in its synagogue.
"The fact that we could celebrate it yesterday was a very joyful event for us and for the community as well," he said.
Lapid returns to Israel on Thursday evening.
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Earlier this week, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with al-Zayani in New York ahead of his address to the UN General Assembly. Joining them was UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalifa al-Mara.
"We believe in this relationship and we are determined to extend it as much as possible," Bennett said during the trilateral meeting.
"I thought it was important that we meet on the first anniversary of the Abraham Accords," the Israeli leader said, "which from our point of view is very significant."
